The invention pertains to novel compositions and methods for processing photographic elements. More specifically, the invention relates to novel compositions containing a heterocyclic nitrogen addendum and a magenta dye-forming coupler and to a method for developing an image in the presence of the novel composition. The term addenda refers to components added to the oil phase other than coupler or coupler solvent.
Films containing two-equivalent pyrazolone magenta dye-forming couplers with coupling off groups show a propensity for continued coupling when taken out of a developer solution and placed directly, without an intervening stop bath, in a bleach solution. This can cause undesirable increases in background density, that is, stain. Use of more active bleaches, and increases in bleach pH on seasoning, tend to aggravate this phenomenon.
The use of aromatic amines to reduce magenta dye stain with two-equivalent pyrazolone magenta dye-forming couplers has been proposed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,918 and European Patent Application 81,768. The references indicate that stain arising from continued coupling is among the types of stain to be reduced with aromatic amine addenda.
The use of certain heterocyclic and aliphatic amines in combination with two-equivalent pyrazolone couplers to reduce stain is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,479 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,728. However, the amine addenda of the prior art often do not reduce continued coupling to a sufficient extent. Furthermore, the prior art addenda often suffer from instability problems.
There has thus been a need to reduce the continued coupling of two-equivalent pyrazolone magenta dye-forming couplers to a sufficient extent without greatly reducing the coupler activity.